NewTeeVee Visits Next New Networks

Next up in our New York online video office tour: Next New Networks. Featured in the video are three Next New Networks co-founders: creative director Fred Seibert, CEO Herb Scannell, and Tim Shey, VP of network development. You also see the talented DIY filmmaking guru Erik Beck of Next New Networks’ Indy Mogul making himself up as a werewolf for next week’s Backyard FX show.

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If werewolf regalia doesn’t scare you into thinking Next New Networks is a huge business, then watch Siebert try to justify the Next New Networks business model in an extended interview. He says we’ve just got to wait while Indy Mogul — started in May as a commissioned show but promising enough for NNN to hire Beck and bring him to New York — builds an audience.

For me, what stands out about NNN is that it attracts passionate, and not at all passive, viewers. They want to comment and create and interact. For instance, another Next New Networks project, DIY fashion network Threadbanger, recently gave a show to one of its fans, independent fashion designer Andrew Hanson.

We’ve talked to Shey and Scannell before, so this time we spent most of our time with Siebert, who also produces animated series for Nickelodeon from an office downstairs from them. Siebert tells how he brought in Dan Meth, who made the recent hit clip “Internet People” as part of a show called The Meth Minute that he’s distributing on Next New Networks. Siebert, who’s been instrumental at MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, says he’s already had an offer to turn “Internet People” into a TV show, which is generally exactly what he’s looking for when he produces a short. However, Siebert says, he turned the offer down in favor of trying to make a digital TV show free from the confines of the television business.

This video is a bit longer, clocking in at 17 minutes, and was shot and edited by me. It’s been fun (and hard) for me to play around with a camera and learn more about what many of you do all day — let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

Disclosure: Next New Networks has sponsored two of our Pier Screenings events.

Nice work, Liz! Really psyched to see you delving into the video blogging!

Couple a vid tips: hold the camera steady, pick your shot and hold it. Edit tight! No loose ends. Get a shot of everyone in the room (so you don’t have to say they’re there). Get a shot of yourself. Tell stories into the camera. Only shoot the most relevant details. Think about the edit before you start shooting.